Owen's Skiing Day

Once upon a time there was a little boy. His name was Owen. He went skiing. At first he kept on falling but then he got better and his brother and sister took him up on the ski lift with them. But at first his ski kept falling off. On the second time he went up on the ski lift his ski didn't fall off anymore. And then they went down a couple more times. The children also had lunch. After lunch they kept on skiing. Then it was time to go home but then his dad lost his i-pod touch and the family went back to find it but they couldn't find it so they went back to the car and then they got back in the car and then they went to the store and had a snack and then they went back into the car and found out that the brother was sitting on the dad's i-pod! Then they went home. The little boy Owen felt good because he had fun going skiing. THE END

Why Dr. Suess is the Bomb

Today, in a rare moment of selflessness in which I forced aside my own agenda, I pulled Elliott onto my lap for a story. I always find at the end of the day that these pockets of togetherness were usually the best times. (A nod to Jim Trelease, my own mother and so much darn good children's lit these days) Books line the shelves in Elliott's room. Beatrix Potter competes for space aside Lois Ehlert, Eric Carle and Tomie DePaola. Today, however, Dr. Suess won. Green Eggs and Ham. 50 vocabulary words, I CAN READ IT BY MYSELF, part of the Beginner Books collection from Scott's childhood. The copy he held in his hands, learned to read and before that colored in. (Elliott enjoyed the moment of thinking of his Papa as a naughty boy!) Who knew we'd all come so far from 62 pages of brilliant phonemic manipulation? And that 50 years after it was first published our children would find, in spite of the on-demand lives they live, that insistent Sam-I-Am still makes us all smile. Who ever thought of green eggs or green ham unless they were lost at the back of the fridge? And the nonsense of it all . . . those impossible creatures, trees and cars who were just a little too funky to be part of the real world. Perhaps its timelessness is in the conflict. Who hasn't resisted trying something new? And what child hasn't felt the fervor of their unrelenting, vegetable-pushing parent?

Even the big kids who drifted into the room today were drawn in. They paused in their play, captivated by cadence and pictures to stand and await the conclusion they've known since they were two.

Thank you, thank you Theodore Geisel. Yes we would read you in a box and we would read you with a fox and we would read you here or there. Yes, we would read you anywhere!

YUP, I'M CUTE.

Nothing like a new baby to school me about blogging. Trusting that this addition might lure you back into my blog, I thought you'd like a peek at David, the new Galer. David is adorable you are thinking. But that's not all. In 9 weeks David has eaten all that he could consume, (sometimes more---in which case he kindly returns it), worked on staying awake longer and at more acceptable times of the day, efficiently evacuated his bowels at acceptable and unacceptable times of the day and night as well as learning a myriad of other cute baby tricks.

Tune in next time to read another installment of 'Yup, I'm Cute.'

Owen, You're the MAN!

Spent and hour tonight trying to create a slide show for all you Owen fans out there who couldn't make it to his birthday bash today. It's great to learn new things. This really didn't turn out like I thought it would. I expected the slide show, which I had to use Picasa to create after uploading the pictures from my camera, would be embedded in the text of this post and you would be able to view it full screen. Hmmmmm. . . as you can see this is a sidebar feature and just a tad on the tiny side; put on your glasses, mom! Nonetheless it was kind of fun. (I know, it's an enviable existence when uploading photos is my entertainment) Okay, and one final note---if you go to Picasa there are captions to explain these sometimes complex, perplexing photos. I also thought the captions would be part of your blog experience.

I know many of you were hoping for a play-by-play of the Olympic Events, gold-medal winners, five-year old meltdowns and exquisite gifts but really, I'm just a little bit tired. So, we'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I do feel it imperitive that Harry has honorable mention for making his first and almost flawless cake for Owen. It was from a box, but he read the directions and executed them independently. For those who know Harry, this is the ONLY way to learn something new.

Owen, you really are the man. Thanks for gracing our lives these 5 years with your peaceful ways and boundless affection. You've always had a calming affect on us. I loved tonight when you said, "My gym teacher told me today that when we breathe like this (demonstration of hard, labored breathing) that our heart is getting stronger." You're a great listener. We should all be just a little more like you! Happy Birthday.

Whoever decided that August 20th was a reasonable day for children to return to school has forgotten how much fun it is to be a kid in the summer. Alas, I alone cannot decide when it's time to re-commence the adventure of formal education, or at least the condemnation of six hours of seatwork so last Wednesday my little chickens returned to their institutes of learning. For Owen it was his first day of kindergarten. He's slipped in under the radar since he's still only 4. (Actually he's safely before the cut-off date of Sept. 1st; his birthday is---tomorrow, but I just like using that expression 'under the radar') Madi's out to conquer 6th grade and Harry's happily into 3rd with one of his favorite teachers from last year.

This seems really uncool to admit but I'm one of those moms who rather enjoys having my children home for the summer and relish MOST days of them trundling about underfoot. I like summer reading, lemonade stands, bike rides to the park, soccer, swimming lessons, unexpected science experiments, art projects, mud cookies, letterboxing, scrabble tournaments and all the other surreptitious occurences that seem to materialize when the weather's warm and no one really has to be somewhere at a certain time. Sometimes we just talk and sometimes we just yell but stuff happens and things are said when life isn't just about what has to happen. It's a lovely turn of events to see how children behave when the pressure is off. After years of gaps in their maturity and interests Madi and Harry discovered their friendship hiding behind rivalry. Owen discovered Elliott and I think they all discovered how cool it is to have one another. I know I'm jealous as only an only child can be. I still can't escape the summer without feeling that we didn't do enough of any of the above but I think we did the summer mostly with style.

So, here they are clad in their new school duds, ready to impress or maybe to be impressed. They're perhaps more thrilled to go to school on this day than they will be for the rest of the year. I still consider the je ne sais quoi aroma of new pencils, erasers and crayons mingled together in my pencil box to be a thrilling portent of good things to come; a new friend to make, a crush to develop, cursive to learn, Shel Silverstein to discover, encyclopedias to crack open, mastery of the monkey bars, and with trepidation, the hope of growing up just a little bit more. So to all the vicissitudes that a new school year holds---here's to my chickens! In their words---'You Rock!'

a RUSH

In a moment of vanity I thought I would hop in on this celebrity photo shoot with some of Idaho's favorite multi-sport athletes. You'll notice that I'm completely dressed down but still trying to convince you that I might have been part of this great relay team that won first place. Really though, you'll have no problem spotting me in that first snapshot. I'm the one in the yellow cap who looks like I'm drowning. Thanks for the good times ladies.

You've had a birthday----shout hooray!

This post feels like it could be an acceptance speech from the Academy Awards of birthdays. I want to thank all of you who wished me well, gifted me, called me, facebooked me pedicured me, babysat for me and in any way made me feel like an excessively important person today.  I hope I return the favor on your special day.  Most of all I have to go live to let a very amazing little girl named Madi know how unbelievable and exquisite her gift was.  So, aside from the birthday-charm of these photos, you must know that the three-layer devil's food cake with vanilla-buttercream frosting was made entirely (except for a few sweeps of frosting by Scott) by Madi, a girl of many and uncommon talents. And this ain't no 'Easy-Bake' creation but rather a carefully selected recipe made with butter, unsweetened chocolate and cocoa from 'America's Test Kitchen' cookbook; made in pans lined with parchment with ingredients appropriately at room-temperature, precisely measured and perfectly blended.  Even I haven't made a cake like this. It was rich, tender flavorful and heavenly.  So try as you'd like to duplicate this, but the wizardry is really in the hands of a tiny kitchen-elf.  She is not for rent. Thanks, Madi, for a gift of heart and sustenance. Thanks to 3 little boys who showered me with kisses, lavishly suggested that I could be a model (a hand model---of course ) and added to my I-tunes collection.  (Owen, please don't accidently spend all my I-tunes money on Exit Stage Left by Rush again this year!) So, here's some pics from a great day and underscoring it all is a priceless man who always makes me feel like I could win the Academy Awards.